Transcription
I guess resist how you want to resist is what I would say. Even through killing. Uh, I I don't know. I don't think we're at that stage yet. But I hope we don't get there. I hope we're able to do things democratically and peacefully. But at some point, but there may be a stage, there may be a stage where we need to get more aggressive with resisting fascism.
In recent years, America has seen a wave of far-left violence. They talk about acts of violence. They talk about guns or going to gun ranges, and it this scares me. The murder of Charlie Kirk, the shooting at an ICE facility in Texas, attempts on Donald Trump's life, and the killing of a healthcare CEO. Across the country, radical activists claim they're fighting fascism.
"There's no political violence coming from the left, frankly. You know, what about Charlie K's death?" Well, but their war is increasingly against ordinary Americans. My name is Steven Edgenton, and in this film for GB News, I explore the rise of far-left extremism. I began by speaking with a former member of Antifa, the principal organization pushing far-left activism and, in some cases, violence.
"Were you once in Antifa?" Yeah, you know, I mean, I definitely wouldn't call myself like Antifa's strongest soldier or like, you know, I'm going to like giant Antifa conspiracy meetings, but it's like, you know, I think that as far as like Mayday is like a holiday in Seattle, uh, where Antifa often shows a presence. So, participate in that, you know, whether it's like protests or marches, you know, dressed in all black, wearing a mask.
"Have you ever heard anyone explicitly say they're going to kill someone or or they or they think it's justified to attack someone because they're a fascist, for example?" Oh, absolutely. I I I mean, it's like whether it's people deserve to die. They have no human rights. It's like calling someone a Nazi or a fascist. It's a way to just dehumanize them. You can do whatever to them. You can assault them. It's funny to them. They laugh about it. They don't kill you because you're a fascist. They call you a fascist so they can kill you. you know, it just a way to dehumanize people um and threaten them.
Originally, they were trying to bully and threaten like what they would consider right-wing extremists, like Proud Boys or what like Christian nationalists, you know, that show up to protest or events. They're bullying them. That's not the target anymore. Now, the target is anyone that doesn't agree with them socially. When I, you know, I'm not at a meeting. I'm just hanging out with people that I know. You know, more and more they they talk about acts of violence. They talk about guns or going to gun ranges and it theit scares me.
"Why do you think some of these people that you know are arming themselves and going to gun ranges and so on?" They feel as though they're under threat. Well, you know, we're going to be genocided or put in prison or Nazis have taken over America and so we have to act now to stop it.
"That kind of rhetoric and those ideas, do you feel that it's kind of like a radicalization or self-radicalization?" Almost akin to let's say an Islamist group? "How is this different than a group like ISIS?" It's like you know you create this um you know echo chamber like this social group. You're not allowed to talk to any outsiders. If you interact with anyone who isn't part of the group um or who thinks differently, then you're out. You're canceled. You're untrustworthy. Or worse, now you're a Nazi.
"Do you worry that some of the rhetoric coming from senior Democrats and some of the media describing Donald Trump as a Nazi, describing the Republicans as fascists is radicalizing some people towards the kind of violence that you're talking about?" That is what caused it. So it it the Democratic leadership it's like you know whether it's like when Kamla was running just you know dead saying you know well yeah Trump is a fascist but you know the Democrats you know they they just constantly pouring gasoline on it and just normalizing you know this language which you know has a lot of consequences. It scares people. That's what it does when you have you know like these respected leaders. They're they are scaring theit out of, you know, ordinary people, especially young people, and and they feel as though, you know, they're under threat, that their lives are in danger. And it's actually not true.
"Do they think a civil war is coming?" Uh, for sure. They probably feel like we're in it right now, and they have to be stopped no matter what the cost is, you know. And I mean, the cost is, you know, the country in chaos where like political assassinations and murder is just okay.
In Portland, Oregon, the city's ICE facility has faced nightly protests and riots for months. There I met an independent journalist to show me what's happening on the ground.
"Great to meet you. Hi, I'm Steven." Chel. I go by Honeybadger Mom on X. "Okay, so we're here outside the ICE building." And you've done a lot of reporting here. "Should we go and have a look and see what's happening?" Go check it out.
"So they've written this slogan, look up and see American Gestapo." Yes. "Go ahead." And fascists. I mean, this is the kind of language that they're using. "Oh, yes. They absolutely compare uh ICE agents and anybody that opposes them to the Gestapo." "And do you think that that kind of language around fascism and Nazis and Gestapo, does that lead to the violence? Because if that really is true," then that justifies killing them in a way. "Yes. Oh, no. Absolutely. That's the purpose of the language. And you can see it in the crowd. I walked up last Saturday and I have to have a bodyguard or I can't do this work anymore. I've been assaulted several times. When we walked up, someone got on a megaphone and said about me to this crowd of 100 people. There's a right-wing agitator. She's a Nazi. And the whole mood of the crowd became sinister. And I immediately had to walk out in a way to just kind of" calm that down.
"Kill pics." Yeah. "Explicitly violent." Yes. And they that language is throughout their entire movement. They want police debt. And they've told these officers, "Kill yourself. Kill yourself. Kill yourself. Jump. Jump. Jump." So, I overheard one of the people associated with this group, Antifa, tell one of these officers that they needed to quit their job. If they did not quit their job, they were going to be murdered in the revolution. At my home, 90 minutes south of here last week, somebody left four cowrops in my driveway. And those, for anybody that doesn't know, they're rebar, kind of look like a jack. They're giant, and they're made to puncture tires.
"So, this one up here says, 'I want you to kill Nazis.'" Yes. "And I walk in and they She's a Nazi," right? It is incitement and it's scary. It's more than just language. It's an incitement to kill people. They want somebody to die and they have killed someone on the streets of Portland a few years ago that was a Trump supporter. Somebody shot him in cold blood and they celebrated it. They're hoping for something like that. Somebody told me this was here, but they're doing a ICE protest in Portland. Farright content creators bolo. be on the lookout for. And so they put me on there.
"So you guys are setting up shop?" Yep. "For So do you do this every day?" Every week? Well, we they sweep it every week. "Why do you do this? Why are you protesting?" I mean, they're terrorizing our community. They're kidnapping people. You saw the no knock warrants that they're doing here in Portland, right?
"What do you make of some of the We've been looking at some of the uh slogans written on the, you know, ICE building and stuff. Some of them are quite violent." I will tell you that there is a lot of pain and a lot of anger and that is people's way of getting that anger out. And I would rather people tag and write a nasty note than it getting to a point of violence or anything else.
"There has been obviously attacks on ICE officers, people being killed." No, "there have been. I mean," not on I like not here in Portland. "Not here. Not Not here. Yeah. Yeah. Across the country. So that kind of slogan do you think" when you are the Gestapo coming in and terrorizing the community mass thugs kidnapping people "what do you expect the community to do?"
"So why don't you show us where you were assaulted here outside the ICE building?" Okay, there was a woman that walked up to me and had a huge sign and she put it this close to my face and I I won't tolerate that anymore because I can't see what's happening. and it's often a precursor to an attack. So, I just pulled the sign down and away and sidestepped and she jumped me. She went around behind me and was punching me in the head repeatedly.
"Get it out of my face now." I told the woman that was approaching me if she didn't get back, I was going to pepper spray her. I think I said it twice and she continued to move forward. So I sprayed her and she dropped everything she had in her hands and ran straight at me. She probably weighed 300 lb. Hit me like a linebacker and tackled me into that swale right there and was punching me. She was on top of me and punching me everywhere she could reach. And I had just gone into a fetal position to protect my phone and my body.
"So what what are we about to see then? Where are you taking us?" Well, if it's still there. When I was driving into town the other day, I came down this road, my old neighborhood, and there was graffiti out here in an area that looked like it was getting ready to have construction done on it, and it said something about ICE and uh killing Trump supporters.
"Wow. Okay." Yeah. This is what caught my eye yesterday when I was driving into the city was kill ICE. Now, there are Federal Protective Service officers and ICE officers that have been targeted in this neighborhood with their home addresses exposed. So, if I were them, this this would frighten me. Obviously, there's this sign here that says kidnap ICE F MAGA. "Mhm." "Again, kind of violent rhetoric. Is this usual around the city seeing these kind of signs?" I It's definitely more usual now. And we are far from ICE and far from downtown. This is a workingclass neighborhood.
"So, there's a lot of homelessness in Portland." Yes. A lot. This area in particular is kind of an area where they gather because there's a lot of services in this area from nonprofits to things that the city provides.
"Does this in any way connect with the kind of far-left stuff that we've been talking about earlier?" So, the policies that the far-left pushes, and it's the same people down there at the ICE building, um they're all connected and along with some of the people that have been elected to city council are the um making drugs um not illegal anymore. It's the prison abolitionist crowd.
"I'm just really overwhelmed by how bad this is. Like I mean I I have seen it worse, but just to see see this up close and hear people in psychotic episodes in their delusions is just very sad. So what time is it?" Okay, we should go in there.
Next, Honeybadger took me to court to speak with a young lady who was arrested for a hate crime. "So it's been dropped" kind of. "Okay." "They're not going to move forward with it now. like but they're like we could for the next 2 or 3 years. I don't think they're going to."
"We just came from the courthouse and you've been in a bit of trouble. Can you explain why?" Um, so on October 18th I was exercising my first amendment right and protesting down at the ICE facility and was accosted and harassed and assaulted by a man in a dress. He wasn't happy with my presence and he made that very clear when he uh put his bullhorn in my face and attempted to damage my hearing and punched me in the face after I gently tied to removed the bullhorn from my ear. So, I was put on a dismissal of some sort where they could potentially charge me within like two to three years, but they're not going to make any moves as of this point is my understanding.
"What were they saying you were doing? Like why did they why were you in court today?" Harassment and bias crime too. Yes. "Yeah. So a bias crime is a is sort of like a hate crime. Is that right? Cuz I'm not I've never heard of this bias crime." Yeah. So when I was in jail I asked many times what it was, what's going on. And um finally at around 10:20 when they were taking my mug shots and my fingerprints, I asked one of I believe it was a jailer of some sort what my charges were. and he told me and I asked him to explain what bias crime 2 is. And he essentially told me, "If you were to walk up to me, call me the n-word, and then hit me in the face with a brick, that's your charge."
"But it was obviously something to do with the fact that this bloke was a trans person, right?" Possibly. "One would presume. Yeah." Yeah. "Sorry, it's walking right by me, so forgive me." No, no, we can. We don't want you to feel uncomfortable. "I am like now I'm really [ __ ]" Well, you're you're rightly, you know, a bit traumatized by the whole thing.
Multiple police officers were standing by. There were I don't have any doubt that there were a handful of them that actually saw it and didn't do anything about it.
That night, we returned to the ICE facility where some protesters told me one day killing fascists might be justified.
"So, we're back at ICE. We've already had one guy try and uh intimidate our cameraman here." Yeah. "Um, but" over there we've got the dancers, people dressed up in funny costumes and things like that. "They would argue they're just trolls. This isn't violence. This is just them having fun, poking fun at the evil fascists over here." I would say that's their propaganda that they're manufacturing so they can say, "Look, we're just having a dance party. We're not doing anything crazy. I don't know what everybody's so upset about."
"Can I ask why you're here?" I'm here because um I come from a community that's I have family at risk to eyes and I come from a community that's at risk. It is ter being terrorized by ice. "Why is your face covered?" Because I'll be arrested if they see me. "You think so?" I'm not allowed to protest here. "You're not allowed to protest here. Why not?" I don't know. You'd have to ask the courts. I didn't do anything.
"Yeah. I'm so glad I found you on Tinder and Grinder." "How many times have you been here? Do you come here often?" I do. I come here. I've been out here since early June, like since the 3rd.
"We've seen lots of signs uh calling ICE fascist around here. Not signs, but uh graffiti and things like that." Um, and there's also a couple signs we've seen that said like kill ICE, kill fascists. "What do you make of that?" I mean, to each their own. Um, some people like to be very vocal about their displeasure for fascism and well, it's on the rise. We are in the midst of a fascist takeover. So, I I guess resist how you want to resist is what I would say, "even through killing."
I I don't know. I don't think we're at that stage yet, but I hope we don't get there. I hope we're able to do things democratically and peacefully, but at some point, but there may be a stage, there may be a stage where we need to get more aggressive with resisting fascism and the rise of it. Yeah. "What does that look like?" I couldn't tell you. I I'm here peacefully. So, that's my my take on it.
"What would mean we get to that stage where you need to use violence to achieve your your goals?" Um, I probably I don't know. I haven't really considered it yet. I'm here mainly peacefully. Yeah. "And so the idea of being violent and going down a violent route hasn't really" I'm still in the hopes of we can do this peacefully and democratically um for those "but there are those out here that think differently" really "and I'm not going to judge them for that. There are some people here who do think that's" I believe that "we should kill fascists and" to a certain degree I don't know I I just I have my own opinion on it. Right.
"And what what brought you here? What brings you here now?" Well, uh you know, honestly, because a lot of our a lot of old white dudes in America e fed things up, right? We're a lot of them have supported Trump and made it horrible. So, I've got to be one of those that are willing to stand up. And my mom frankly went through she was born in Berlin and went through World War II. And while my grandfather uh was Jew, well had Jewish friends and a Jewish banker that he worked for. So I'm sure they weren't Nazis. But I always wondered what caused that. And because of that, I become an expert in preWorld War II Germany. And Trump looks scarily eerily like that. I mean, he and and Hitler, despite physical differences and some style differences, tactic-wise, are really similar.
"We we've seen a lot of u signs and stuff, graffiti and things obviously saying ICE fascists and so on." Yes. "Um and a couple of the signs are saying kill ICE, kill Nazis. What do you make of those? I mean, if if he really is Hitler, is it justifiable to kill him?" You've got a lot of young kids here who are very emotional, right? That um see their lives without a lot of hope, right? It's "But but is that does that justify kind of attacking or or any political violence? Like if he's Hitler, then shouldn't we take down Hitler?" Yes. Yes. But when you say political violence, so none of these people Look at this. They're dancing. There's a bunch of animals usually here, right? "There's no political violence coming from the left, frankly. You know," "what about Charlie Kirk's death?" Well, that's still to be determined.
We're here outside ICE, the ICE facility in Portland. Um, "why are you here?" I'm here because I have the privilege of a middle-aged white woman. I'm employed. I have no criminal record. Um, I stand strongly against what's happening here. "Are you worried about political violence in America?" Big time. "Yeah." Yeah. "Absolutely." Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely.
"And obviously we all saw this um murder of Charlie Kirk a couple of months ago. What did you make of of that?" Um, "I know that he died. I don't really have any I want to say more than that." "We saw a lot of people celebrating his murder online." "What do you make of that?" Um I guess "I don't have anything to say about that either." No. Yeah. Freedom of speech.
Antifa violence has claimed many victims in Portland. I sat down with some of them to hear their stories. "Can you take us through some of your reporting, how you began reporting on this left-wing violence and what you've discovered over the last nine years?" I started 9 years ago in Portland, Oregon, and I was very naive then. I went out with an iPhone 7 and was just recording what I saw. And I had never seen groups of people dressed in black with their faces covered. This is four years before CO, by the way. and they had bats and and other tools that they use to destroy um entire city streets within seconds and then disappear into the next street.
During this near decade of reporting, I unfortunately have been a target several times of Antifa violence. They nearly killed me on several occasions and um I've witnessed and experienced that violence up close and the movement in its own what the individuals who ascribe to this ideology claim it's about um violence for the purpose of violence in that their slogan is become ungovernable. So their agenda is to attack state institutions, law enforcement with the goal of destroying the United States and all nation states. Actually, they just the US is convenient. They view it as the head of a a a monster that they want to slay. And their project is to create a stateless society where people govern themselves autonomously.
"Is far-left violence on the rise in America today?" It has. There's actually been some research that's been put out um looking at a incremental a surge actually in leftwing violence. A lot of people were quite shocked that after Charlie Kirk was assassinated that there was such open celebration for for that murder that was uh in front of an audience of thousands in Utah. But I I wasn't surprised. I had been seeing now for 9 years of my reporting on left-wing violence that the antifa violence was becoming mainstream.
"Uh my name is Brian Owendoff. Uh I have been in commercial real estate development for 34 years. Half of that here in Portland, Oregon." "This building we're sitting in now, you developed?" Yeah. I was the owner's rep and oversaw all development of this $740 million mixeduse project. "You actually experienced a far-left attack here in this building. So, this was May 1st of 2023. In my 18 years here in Portland, Mayday is always a big day for Antifa. Uh, it's uh uh they they end up having either a protest or or some violence. We ended up having an arson fire started up on the 17th floor on a cross hallway sprinklers to go off, water to go from 17 down to 12, impact about 43 rooms that had been completely punched, ready to go. The reason I believe it was Antifa was we ended up also having damage to 17 of the 132 units where they scraped into the glass ACAB and 1213 and eat the rich. So this was not a an Amish gang from Ohio or Pennsylvania coming out here to do it. It was Antifa and there was a lot of chatter uh on on the web uh about this. They had purposely targeted this."
I'm the president of the Portland Police Association. um the president or the Portland Police Association is the kind of rank and file police union in Portland, Oregon.
"So in your experience as a police officer in Portland over the last 20 years, have you witnessed an increase in political violence?" Yes, political violence has kind of it's been interesting. You know, we've always had a very robust protest community. Um and a lot of our protests, the vast majority of them are in fact peaceful. You know, in 2010 you had Occupy Wall Street. That to me is when you started seeing like the all cops are bastards. Um that was kind of the origin of doxing. Um I got doxed in 2010. Um I had people calling my phone and my wife's phone threatening to rape and kill my wife and infant daughter. Um, you know and they were claiming Antifa affiliation. It was very organized. It was very fast. And then 2020 was again was kind of where Portland became very famous. We always kind of had these issues. Um, but 2020 happens and for 180 days straight, every single day for 180 days, we had a riot. Full send, firebombs, people boarding police stations and our union hall shut and lighting it on fire with people inside. People getting Molotov cocktails thrown at them and lit on fire. Um, again, I personally was in our union hall with it boarded shut and lit on fire. Um, people, you know, pulling guillotines out, which is just, I mean, it's shocking behavior.
"Do you think the kind of rhetoric that we're seeing around cops and also ICE officers is perhaps leading to more violence towards those people? So calling them fascists or pigs or something" um "justifies in their mind attacks on the officers." Yeah. And to be completely honest, my real concern right now is we're seeing it on both sides of the aisle. Our officers in Portland, again, politics and policing simply do not mix. Police officers, again, they're human beings. They have their own perspectives. You know, I'm sure there's police officers with all kinds of different political views, but you agree when you put a uniform on to set all that aside and go and enforce the law that you are given the authority to enforce. 180 days plus kill all cops was spray painted on every play, every police station in or in Portland. Um, police officers were followed home. Police officers are getting, you know, they'll see flyers with their names up. Every time we have a deadly force incident, people come out of the woodwork talking about how our police officers are murderers with no due process or no real facts or understanding what's going on. Um, and I will always say any violent rhetoric towards people who are willing to serve is completely unacceptable, no matter what the origin of the comment is. Um, and I do think that as you allow violent or tumultuous rhetoric to grow about any police organization, you are creating an environment that may lead to political violence directed at police officers. Um, and it's just unacceptable.
"Are police officers in Portland worried about their lives because of this rhetoric that we're seeing about killing cops and so on?" Absolutely. Right. And and again when when I mean I've gotten in our our email box for the police union dozens of emails saying Portland police are Antifa, kill all Antifa. And so the rhetoric that the Portland Police Bureau is somehow sickopantic to an organization that destroyed our city and has threatened our families that that we for people to say you are that leads to people who don't like that to want to engage in violence against us.
Far-left violence isn't limited to Portland. In Seattle, I met journalist Brandy Cruz, a former TV reporter who showed me parts of her city which were taken over by armed left-wing militants.
"Hello." Hi. Nice to meet you. Welcome to Capitol Hill, Seattle. "Thank you so much." Okay, so this area had some experience a few years ago. "This is sort of the heart of Seattle's protest culture. Um, but also what we're walking up to right here is the Seattle Police Department's East Precinct. And this zone is famously the six square blocks of the city that was taken over by armed left-wing militants in the summer of 2020. It was first known as CHAZ, the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, and then they changed the no the name to CHOP, the Capitol Hill occupied protest. So, it was in response to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and it lasted for about a month. It had a a sign right here that said, you know, welcome to CHOP or you're entering CHOP. And actually, for a big period of that month, this six blocks was patrolled by left-wing rioters who were armed with AR-15 rifles that had been handed to them on video out of the trunk of a car."
"Did anyone get hurt or has anyone been being been hurt by these leftwing militants in the last few years?" Oh, 100%. And again, varies in severity. For instance, my crew when I was in mainstream news here at CHAB was mobbed the night that the autonomous zone formed. So, I've been assaulted. I was assaulted um by left-wing militants outside the ICE facility in Taquilo, which is south of Seattle, just back in June. So far at this point, nobody's been arrested for that assault. Uh, one of the militants, all masked, tried to blind me with wasp killer, uh, sprayed it directly in my eyes in the face of my security guard. I had colleagues in mainstream news who were assaulted here in Chop and basically told by their bosses to shut up about it.
"So, we can see here there's a park over there" and something happened in this park quite shocking. So this is Cal Anderson Park and it became almost like the encampment for Chop. So there was a tent city, there was a community garden and that's maybe fine during the day, but at night it became a very dangerous place to be. And remember, there's no law enforcement in this area. So there were several instances where women had reported being raped in the encampment and they would actually have to leave this area to be able to get help from law enforcement.
"So, should we go next to the uh George Floyd protest place downtown?" Yep. "And see and check it out." 15 years covering left-wing extremism in the city. This riot was the one of the most lawless situations I've ever experienced besides obviously CHOP, which inherently is, you know, lawless. So, there was what started as a peaceful demonstration after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. And I would say there's maybe 500 people down here. And this is the city core. This is your business district, shopping. Pike Place Market, which is one of the most popular tourist destinations, is just blocks away. And all of a sudden, it turns into a riot. I've never seen anything like I saw here. I remember standing on this corner up here, and there was a Seattle police SUV right here in the middle of this road, fully engulfed in flames, people jumping on it. These businesses in this area were looted to the studs. And I mean, I remember walking on the street, no cops to be seen anywhere, and there were just naked mannequins that had been strewn all over cuz they took everything. And they even ripped the clothes off the mannequins. So, a lot of these businesses have been boarded up for years and years and years. But there is a what was a Banana Republic uh up here on the corner in a beautiful building that you'll see, looted, never reopened.
"So this is" never reopened after that. "The very downtown of Seattle." This is "this should be the most busy place, right?" This should be the most vibrant area of Seattle. "And you've got businesses boarded up because of the left-wing violence that happened just a few well years and years ago now, but they still haven't reopened." A combination of that and then combined with the the environment. But this is what cities like Seattle and Portland have resorted to. This used to be the Banana Republic. This whole building here on the corner. So you'll see this a lot in Portland as well. They don't want a vacant storefront. So what they do is they do these art installations and the city will support them and host them.
Across America, far-left extremism is on the rise. When leaders label their opponents Nazis, some take it as permission to kill. As leftist extremism continues to spread. For many, the question is not whether there will be another political attack, but when and who.